Outcast (Warriors)

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Outcast
File:OutcastWarriors.jpg
First edition cover
AuthorErin Hunter
Cover artistWayne McLoughlin
CountryCanada
United States
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesWarriors: Power of Three
GenreChildren's literature
Fantasy novel
PublisherHarperCollins
Publication date
9 April 2008 (Canada)
22 April 2008 (United States and United Kingdom)
Media typePrint (Hardback and paperback)
Pages317 (first edition)
ISBN978-0-06-089208-1
OCLC179807183
LC ClassPZ7.H916625Ou 2008
Preceded byDark River 
Followed byEclipse 

Outcast is the third book in Erin Hunter's Warriors: Power of Three children's fantasy novel series. HarperCollins published it on 9 April 2008 in Canada and 22 April 2008 in the United States and United Kingdom. The novel details a journey undertaken by protagonist siblings Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw, cats who are referred to in a prophecy, to the mountains to help a group of cats known as The Tribe of Rushing Water.

Synopsis

Background

Warriors is written by Erin Hunter, a pen name for four people: Victoria Holmes, who creates the storylines and edits, and Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, and Tui Sutherland, who write the books in turns.[1][2] Outcast is part of the Warriors: Power of Three series, the third six-book series under the Warriors title.[3] Victoria Holmes created the storyline and Cherith Baldry wrote this book.[1] The Warriors series follows four Clans—ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan—of feral cats. The Clans believe in StarClan, composed of the spirits of their ancestors. In a previous series, Warriors: The New Prophecy, the Tribe of Rushing Water was introduced.[4] The Tribe, another group of wild cats, inhabits a mountain range and believes in their own set of ancestors, the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

Characters

  • Jaypaw: Jaypaw, a blind grey tabby tom with blue eyes, is the brother of Lionpaw and Hollypaw, and a medicine cat apprentice in ThunderClan. Jaypaw has a special power as foretold in a prophecy given to his grandfather Firestar: he can sense the emotions of other cats, and enter their dreams. Jaypaw is characterized as proud and sarcastic, especially when he feels other characters are judging him for his blindness.
  • Hollypaw: Hollypaw, a black she-cat with green eyes, is the sister of Lionpaw and Jaypaw, and an apprentice in ThunderClan. Hollypaw is characterized as an ardent follower of the warrior code and tends to have an inflexible interpretation of the code.
  • Lionpaw: Lionpaw, a golden tabby tom, is the brother of Jaypaw and Hollypaw, and an apprentice in ThunderClan. Lionpaw is especially talented in fighting skills, and receives training from the spirits of deceased former antagonists Tigerstar and Hawkfrost.
  • Stoneteller: Stoneteller is the "healer", or leader, of the Tribe of Rushing Water. Throughout the novel, he is reluctant to accept the Clan cats' help in dealing with the invading rogues.
  • Stripes: Stripes, a darkly-striped silver tabby tom, leads the group of rogues who are invading the Tribe's territory. Stripes and his companions are disrespectful and dismissive of the Tribe and Clan cats, and assert that they are free to act as they wish regardless of the other cats' wishes.

Setting

See also: Warriors (novel series) § Setting and characters

In the Warriors universe, there are four Clans of feral cats that live in a forest: ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan. The Clans are structured, with different cats having different positions, including leader, deputy, warrior, medicine cat, apprentice, etc. Cats in each Clan live and hunt in their own territory, which they defend from other cats. Each Clan is adapted to its own types of prey and members usually possess (or are taught) special skills which suit the territory's terrain. StarClan is a group of the Clans' deceased ancestors who give spiritual guidance to the Clans. StarClan warriors keep watch over the Clans, usually watching the Clan they lived in while alive. They provide guidance to the Clans, often through dreams and other signs like omens.

Beyond the Clans' territories lies a mountain range, inhabited by the Tribe of Rushing Water. The Tribe is shown to be similar to the Clans, yet it follows a different set of ancestors: the Tribe of Endless Hunting. The Tribe has a Healer, cave-guards, and prey-hunters, who each serve a different function in the Tribe. The Healer leads the Tribe, heals the ill and wounded, and communicates with the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

Plot summary

Cats from a group in the mountains called the Tribe of Rushing Water arrive in ThunderClan's camp to ask for ThunderClan's help deaing with a group of rogue cats who harass the Tribe and steal their prey. Upon hearing this news, Stormfur and Brook Where Small Fish Swim (Brook) reveal why they had returned to ThunderClan from the Tribe in Twilight. The two were banished after Stormfur led the Tribe into battle against the rogues: many Tribe cats died due to a lack of battle experience, and Stormfur was blamed for the casualties. Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw of ThunderClan, Tawnypelt of ShadowClan, Crowfeather and Breezepaw of WindClan, as well as Stormfur and Brook, journey to the mountains to help deal with the rogues. The Clan cats attempt to reason with the rogues and mark border, but the rogues ignore the borders, forcing the Tribe to take more drastic measures. The Clan cats proceed to teach the Tribe cats fighting skills. The Tribe is reluctant to fight at first, but manages to defeat the invaders. Meanwhile, ThunderClan apprentice Jaypaw continues to try to find out about the prophecy that refers to himself and his littermates: "There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the powers of the stars in their paws". At the end of Outcast, Jaypaw decides to tell his brother and sister about the prophecy, which he had kept secret since discovering it in The Sight.

Publication history

File:Warrior Cats Verbannt.jpg
The German version of Outcast

The title of the book was revealed during the third Erin Hunter online chat.[5] An excerpt of Outcast was included in the back of its prequel, Dark River.[6] To promote the book, the editor, Victoria Holmes, went on her third tour across the United States.[1] The Canadian release of Outcast in hardback occurred on 9 April 2008.[7] Outcast was released as a hardback in the United Kingdom and United States on 22 April 2008, and was published by HarperCollins.[8][9] 200,000 copies of the book were initially released.[10] It was made available as a paperback in Canada on 16 March 2009.[11] Outcast was published in French as Exil by Univers Poche on 18 October 2012,[12] in German as Verbannt by Beltz & Gelberg on 28 January 2013,[13] and in Japanese in October 2012.[14] Outcast was released in Chinese in 2009, along with a trading card featuring Lionpaw.[15]

Reception

A reviewer writing for Children's Literature criticized Outcast for its "overwhelming confusion" of characters and references to past events in the series that readers who had not read earlier books in the series would not understand.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Erin Hunter Chat #4 Transcript—January 19, 2008". Wands and Worlds. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  2. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". HarperCollins. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Warriors: Enter the World of Warriors". Amazon. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  4. ^ Hunter, Erin (2005). Moonrise. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-074454-0.
  5. ^ "Erin Hunter Chat #3 Transcript—part 2". Wands and Worlds. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  6. ^ Hunter, Erin (2007). Dark River. HarperCollins. pp. 323–334. ISBN 9780060892050.
  7. ^ "Outcast (Warriors: Power of Three, Book 3) (Hardcover) by Erin Hunter". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  8. ^ "Warriors: Power of Three #3: Outcast by Erin Hunter". HarperCollins. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Outcast (Warriors) (Hardcover)". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  10. ^ Abbott, Charlotte (17 March 2008). "On sale in April". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  11. ^ "Warriors: Power of Three #3: Outcast [Paperback]". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  12. ^ "La guerre des clans III - Le pouvoir des étoiles: Exil, Volume 3". Google Books. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  13. ^ "Warrior Cats - Die Macht der drei, Verbannt: III". Google Books. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  14. ^ "Amazon.co.jp: Warriors: Outcast". Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  15. ^ "Google Books: Warriors: Outcast". Google Books. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  16. ^ "Outcast (Warriors: Power of Three Series #3)". Barnes and Noble. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
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